CDSP to award 3 honorary degrees Oct. 13

Church Divinity School of the Pacific will confer honorary doctor of divinity degrees on three alumni on Thursday, Oct. 13, according to an announcement from the Episcopal graduate theological seminary in Berkeley, California. The recipients are the Rev. Peter Chase, a maritime chaplain in Dubai; the Rev. David E. Pettengill, a retired priest in Mesa, Arizona; and the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg of Neptune, New Jersey, a writer and editor for Episcopal News Service, based in New York. The three priests will receive their degrees at the annual Alumni Convocation at CDSP from the Very Rev. W. Mark Richardson, president and dean, and the Rev. Eliza Linley, chair of the CDSP Board of Trustees, "in recognition of their significant contributions to the Episcopal Church," according to the release. The degrees will be presented as part of a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, which will begin at 5:45 p.m. in All Saints Chapel on the CDSP campus, 2451 Ridge Road, Berkeley, Calif. Richardson will preside; the preacher will be the Rev. Linda L. Clader, professor of homiletics and dean of academic affairs. Schjonberg studied journalism and mass communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and received her master of divinity degree from CDSP in 2000. She was ordained a priest in 2001, and served parishes in New Jersey before becoming an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service in 2005. She also currently serves as an assisting priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey She is a member of the board of directors for the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, and served as a volunteer chaplain at Ground Zero from October 2001 through May 2002. She has also served as president of the CDSP Alumni Council, and on its board of trustees. Pettengill received his Master of Divinity degree from CDSP in 1960 and has had a long and varied career of service to the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Arizona, where he has served congregations since his 1960 ordination to the priesthood. He has been named canon to the ordinary (an honorary life title) for his 35 years of dedicated ministry. He has been involved with Episcopal camps for 20 years, and was a deputy to the church's General Convention for four terms. He has enabled more than 1,000 people to make trips into the Grand Canyon, said the CDSP announcement. Chase received his master of divinity degree from CDSP in 1980, and since has served churches in California, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Massachusetts. He currently lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, serving as chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, the world's largest seafarer center with more than 20,000 seafarer visitors each year, according to the CDSP release. He serves on the MV Flying Angel, a support boat commissioned by Great Britain's Prince Charles for the Mission to Seafarers Dubai. The vessel provides an internet café, a library, a medical clinic, access to telecommunications and pastoral and spiritual support for seafarers.